Law Practice Management-- How To Determine Your Fees

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Law Practice Management-- How To Determine Your Fees

When believing through their law firm marketing strategies, figuring out charges is a hard law practice management job for the majority of lawyers. In identifying costs for specific services, lawyers typically fall short of what they ought to charge. A lot of lawyers hesitate of even charging the competitive rate for their services when making their law office marketing plans. Even more, they make the prices choices frequently with no information or conceptual framework. Furthermore, instead of focusing their efforts on how they can validate getting leading dollar for what they offer, they charge a cost that is typically way too low and typically actually can frighten prospective customers who think there is something missing from a service that is " low-cost". Furthermore numerous lawyers do not recognize that most buyers in the marketplace by far are "value purchasers" and not searching for " low-cost".

Before you sit down and begin thinking through your law practice management prices strategy you need some differences around prices frequently utilized in law company marketing preparation. Do understand a law practice management law company marketing plan is not reliable if you only attract individuals who desire to pay the lowest cost for a service. Instead, you want to focus your law practice management and law firm marketing strategies on attracting clients who will become long term assets to the firm.

There are generally four methods of determining how much you should be charging for your services. Lets move right into those now.

The Market Technique In Law Practice Management Rates

This is one excellent way of identifying prices. Get your assistant to support you in this law practice management job and spend a long time finding what the variety of pricing is in the community. Have her do a " secret shopper" study by calling around as if he/she were a possible client and learn what your competitors state on the phone to her around rates. She might need to call from her house phone to avoid caller ID. As another choice you could have him/her call other assistants or paralegals at your competitors and use to exchange your costs for their fees or you might do that with other attorneys yourself in your market. If you really want to enter into it and have optimal information you can compose possibly a few lots competitors in your marketplace and state you are doing a cost survey and if they would send you their charge list you will create a composite list that does not determine those reacting and send them a copy of the outcomes. To keep it simple for them include a stamped, self-addressed envelope with a list of the most common services used in your practice area. Now you will see what people are charging for services similar to those you offer. You need to have the ability to develop a variety of costs. Use this variety to set rates for your own services. My suggestion in law office marketing planning is to charge at the 75% level of the list. So you need to be at or in the top 25% of the fees.

Keep in mind that in basic it is not a great law practice management method to contend on price. A lot of possible clients will see pricing that is too low as a signal that there is something missing out on either from the service, the company, or the firm. And people who are searching for a low rate will follow that low rate wherever they can discover it rather than ending up being long-term customers. Be sure that your rate covers your expenses and a sensible profit margin.

The Expense Approach in Law Practice Management Pricing

This law practice management prices method is extremely uncomplicated really. One simply identifies what the expenses are to provide services or products and includes on a affordable earnings, somewhere between fifteen percent at the least and perhaps thirty three percent at the most. The most common error in law practice management using this method is to disregard to consist of some type of your cost. Solo and small company attorneys tend to not include their own salary!

OK, let me say it again. In law practice management typically you count yourself out of the expenditures and you must include yourself in the costs. Why? Often you are doing a minimum of some of the technical work. Yes? Typically you are doing More about the author at least some of the management work. Yes? As the owner of business you are due a sensible profit. Yes? If you are all 3 of these in one, you must consider one wage as due you for your time and know-how as the professional and manager along with a profit of fifteen to thirty percent due you as the owner. So make certain to include a sensible cost for your technical and managerial work in the expenses part of this formula.

Fixed Rate Method in Law Practice Management Prices

This is the approach utilized by lots of auto mechanics (it is called "the flat rate book") and other provider. This technique is where you identify a set rate for various tasks and charge that rate no matter what. He makes more if the mechanic spends less time than set aside for the job. If he spends more time than allocated, he earns less. However in the end, everything evens out (well, usually to the mechanics' favor if you ask me). Another example utilizing this method is how managed health care has actually utilized this system with hospitals and physicians . Legal representatives can use this system if they desire.

The "Rule of 3" in Law Practice Management Pricing

This " guideline of thumb" called the " guideline of three" used in law practice management is not what your CPA might inform you and it does not fail you either. For the very first third we will take the overall quantity of salaries/bonuses (not benefits just wages-- benefits go into the 2nd 3rd coming next) for the profits generators and/or timekeepers (this includes you if you are producing profits) and call that our first third. What you require to do is take the overall amount (in this example $300,000) and now figure out how much you need to charge per billable hour, per fixed rate or how lots of contingency charge cases won to be sure you struck the target we must strike given our first third number times three (in this example $300,000).

This approach shows you just how much per hour you need to charge. Given that you know the number of billable hours each revenue generator can do per month, simply divide that into your overall of all thirds ($300,000) to see what you require to charge per billable hour to make your numbers come out properly. As long as you hit your targets you will be ensured of a 15% to 30% net make money from your operations. After all if you are the owner of the practice you are worthy of a reasonable earnings as well do not you concur? This method is called the Rule of 3. If this approach is a bit too confusing do do not hesitate to contact me and I will help you arrange it out in a couple of minutes on the phone.

It is a good concept to believe through all of these prices approaches in identifying your law practice management prices technique prior to setting a rate and moving ahead with a law firm marketing plan to ensure you are completely exploring all choices. In another post I will tell you how to speak to potential customers so you never ever have a issue getting the charge you are worthy of.